News from the Garden

Issue 40 I March 2026

Preserving plants and place.

It’s that moment in the garden when everything seems to shift at once. Leaves emerge from buds on branches. Flowers push upward and outward (or in the case of our Trachycarpus fortunei, outward and downward). This year, it’s all arriving a little faster and a little fuller than expected, encouraged by early heat and little rain. It’s slightly disorienting yet undeniably beautiful.

The theme of the month is preservation. Not as something fixed, but as an ongoing practice. Paying attention, making lasting decisions in real time, and staying in relationship with a place that is always changing. Sometimes this looks like pruning, pulling weeds, or draining and cleaning a pond. Sometimes it means holding back, planning ahead, or imagining new ways of doing things. Preservation asks for care over time.

Dan Hinkley’s visit this month made this responsibility feel especially clear. In his discussion about preserving legacy gardens, he spoke about Western Hills as a place that matters––not just for the plants, but for what they represent and what can be learned here. This kind of preservation doesn’t happen on its own. It’s the result of people choosing to show up, again and again.

With spring comes our annual membership drive – one way to support our ongoing work. Members help sustain the collection, the programs, and our efforts to carry this place forward. It also makes it easy to return again and again—to see how the garden changes and to become part of that continuity over time.

Members help us thrive.

If this place matters to you, we hope you’ll join us as a member.

We offer four membership levels to make participation accessible, with benefits that deepen your connection to the garden.

Members receive discounted access to programs and workshops—including upcoming offerings like Scott Kildall’s Performing with Plants—as well as invitations to seasonal gatherings such as our summer Wine & Wander evenings.

Many levels include guest passes, making it easy to share the garden with friends. And some, like our Super Fan membership, are transformational, helping us build the future of this incredible place.

Spring is one of the most beautiful times to be here, and the garden is changing quickly. Be part of what we’re preserving—together.

Justin’s Hort Report.

Well, spring certainly came in strong! Or did the Gods decide to skip spring and move right into summer? In any case, most of the leaves on most of our plants have emerged (still waiting on the Acer pentaphylum), and flowers of every color pop in every corner of the garden. Even the weeds are pretty! 

For me, it's a rewarding time to be in the garden, as I witness the results of our winter pruning. Better definition, structure, and form of individuals. View corridors opened. Canopies thinned. It all lends a certain lightness and airiness to the garden that wasn't there last time this year. We didn't get to everything on our pruning list, but we didn't need to. You do what you can, with what you have.

Case in point: the pollarding of one of our large corkscrew weeping willows (Salix babylonica f. tortuosa) has opened up a never-before-seen layered vignette of trees, including the deep burgundy of the Rohan cutleaf purple beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Rohanii'), the stunning white of the wedding cake tree (Cornus controversa 'Variegata'), and the electric greens of our weeping katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum v. pendulum). Together, they create a scene that would have made Monet blush. When Dan Hinkley came to visit recently, he boldly suggested we cut down that huge willow to maintain that breathtaking view. That's a decision for another season. Right now, I'm just listening to the birds, enjoying the view, and thinking of Monet.

Programs of note.

Community shout outs.

Preserving a place isn’t only about plants—it’s also about the cultural life that gives it meaning. This fall marks the inaugural Occidental Jazz Festival (September 18–19), bringing music into the redwoods and creating a new opportunity for the community to gather around sound and place.

While new, festivals like this become part of what we carry forward—building traditions, inviting participation, and contributing to the shared identity of West County. Preservation happens in many forms: through stewardship of the land, and through the creative practices that bring people together.

Learn more and mark your calendar—we hope to see you there.

Some snaps to entice you to visit.